Last Saturday, the members of the Executive Committee of the California Republican Party met at the Sacramento Convention Center and voted overwhelmingly to oppose all of the ballot propositions, 1A-1F, that are on the May Special Election ballot. These measures appear as a result of a budget deal that saw California taxpayers smacked with higher income and sales taxes, as well as higher car taxes and, for those with children, a significant reduction in the child tax credit that taxpaying parents now enjoy. The ballot package rejected by the State GOP includes extending those taxes even longer. In total, if advocates get their way, every family in California will be paying nearly $4,000 on average in higher taxes. And for what? Simply put, the package of measures on the ballot does not solve the structural problems of our state, according to the Legislative Analyst, there will be at least an $8 billion shortfall, even if they fail (and he presumes an increase in revenues from increasing tax rates).

First and foremost, I have read some… Read More

I am trying to think whether California voters will feel more or less inclined to vote themselves an increase in sales, income and car taxes when they hear that over a hundred legislative employees just got raises. Well, I guess if the taxes DO pass, the raise will help the lucky staffers to pay for it. If the taxes fail, well, what's a few hundred thousand more bucks in debt?… Read More

I think that if we as a people are going to discuss the various memorandum about interrogation tactics, we have an obligation to review the memorandum as to what these tactics did or did not accomplish. From what I understand, these tactics prevented the planned attack on Los Angeles. Maybe they did more, maybe they did less. Open the files.

(Thanks to Drudge Report for the following)

CHENEY:

“One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort. And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not been declassified.”

“I formally asked that they be declassified now. I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country.”

“And I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so… Read More

This morning, here in San Jose, I participated on a panel discussion looking at the ballot propositions that appear on the April 19 – May 19 Special Election ballot measures (we post a month-long range because I believe that a majority of votes cast will be by absentee ballot voters, many of who already have their ballots and are voting). The event was co-sponsored by two groups that aren’t as conservative as I am (most aren’t, eh?) – the New America Foundation (famous for the “hidden tax” argument used to support the ill-fated Schwarzenegger/Nunez socialized health care plan, and the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Venture (who rotate out a photo of global warming alarmist Al Gore on their home page).

On the panel with me were my usually-but-not-this-time- ally Loren Kaye (a great guy). Loren represented the CalChamber and its policy foundation as an articulate advocate for 1A-1F.

Representing the ideological left was Jean Ross of… Read More

The following information and attached document with charts is RNC-collected material, derived from Secretary of State data. Accurate info; not yet widely distributed. In fact, it’s likely you may be seeing it here first. Putting Voter Registration Data in Perspective: Recent Trend Benefits Democrats, But Not to the Degree Some Alarmists Claim The recent increase in Democrat voter registration in California reflects a national trend which has seen significant increases in the 29 states with partisan registration. California’s voter registration data reveals the Republican Party is today in a similar position to 1982 and 1994 when George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson were elected Governor.

NATIONAL TREND Harris Interactive reports Republican self-identification nationally at its lowest point in 25 years as 36% of Americans identify with the Democratic Party, 31% identify as Independents, and 26% as Republicans. Independents outnumber Republicans for the first time since 1983.

This trend in self-identification contributes to the recent increase… Read More

After last week’s Obama Administration’s internal report that returning members of the United States military could be poised to form some sort of right wing domestic terrorist core (Freikorps, anyone?), it was interesting to note that the FBI added, instead, a well-known left wing terrorist to the Most Wanted terrorist list: Daniel Andreas San Diego.

Daniel, 31, is an animal rights terrorist. What did Daniel do? Well, he hasn’t been convicted of anything but he is wanted for two bombings. Daniel has one tattoo that reads ‘it only takes a spark’ and illustrations of burning buildings. Daniel was a computer specialist. I’d suggest the Administration review their earlier report and focus on computer specialists instead of returning veterans.… Read More

I am on a flight from “The OC” to San Jose. Lo and behold that I should run into my own office co-habitant John Clarey and a slew of others headed to the South Bay for a day of fundraising for Meg Whitman. It just proves my point that as a well-connected politico, it's hard to fly anywhere without running into someone you know…… Read More

OK, a small deviation from my normally produced stable of political blog posts. As I write this, I am sitting in my new "home away from home" — John Wayne Airport in Orange County. I arrived here at 6:45am this morning to catch a flight up to San Francisco. Little did I know that it would turn into the day from hell – literally.

Not disclosed to me and a couple of hundred other bleary-eyed early morning travelers was that we were being placed onto a "lemon" aircraft that he been having trouble the previous two days with its backup system that controls the rear flaps of the plane (I guess, and it makes sense, these plans have backup system for everything they can — no second chances at 30,000 feet!).

To make a long story long, we ended up taxiing out to the runway, and then back to the terminal, and then after an hour of waiting, we repeated the process again. Eventually the flight was canceled and I am on a Southwest flight in just a few minutes into San Jose.… Read More